#poetry birds freedom love

[poetrysweetashoney]

[papillondusublime]

Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles, Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs : Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles, Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.

J’étais insoucieux de tous les équipages, Porteur de blés flamands ou de cotons anglais. Quand avec mes haleurs ont fini ces tapages, Les Fleuves m’ont laissé descendre où je voulais.

Dans les clapotements furieux des marées, Moi, l’autre hiver, plus sourd que les cerveaux d’enfants, Je courus ! Et les Péninsules démarrées N’ont pas subi tohu-bohus plus triomphants.

La tempête a béni mes éveils maritimes. Plus léger qu’un bouchon j’ai dansé sur les flots Qu’on appelle rouleurs éternels de victimes, Dix nuits, sans regretter l’oeil niais des falots !

Plus douce qu’aux enfants la chair des pommes sures, L’eau verte pénétra ma coque de sapin Et des taches de vins bleus et des vomissures Me lava, dispersant gouvernail et grappin.

Et dès lors, je me suis baigné dans le Poème De la Mer, infusé d’astres, et lactescent, Dévorant les azurs verts ; où, flottaison blême Et ravie, un noyé pensif parfois descend ;

Où, teignant tout à coup les bleuités, délires Et rhythmes lents sous les rutilements du jour, Plus fortes que l’alcool, plus vastes que nos lyres, Fermentent les rousseurs amères de l’amour !

Je sais les cieux crevant en éclairs, et les trombes Et les ressacs et les courants : je sais le soir, L’Aube exaltée ainsi qu’un peuple de colombes, Et j’ai vu quelquefois ce que l’homme a cru voir !

J’ai vu le soleil bas, taché d’horreurs mystiques, Illuminant de longs figements violets, Pareils à des acteurs de drames très antiques Les flots roulant au loin leurs frissons de volets !

J’ai rêvé la nuit verte aux neiges éblouies, Baisers montant aux yeux des mers avec lenteurs, La circulation des sèves inouïes, Et l’éveil jaune et bleu des phosphores chanteurs !

J’ai suivi, des mois pleins, pareille aux vacheries Hystériques, la houle à l’assaut des récifs, Sans songer que les pieds lumineux des Maries Pussent forcer le mufle aux Océans poussifs !

J’ai heurté, savez-vous, d’incroyables Florides Mêlant aux fleurs des yeux de panthères à peaux D’hommes ! Des arcs-en-ciel tendus comme des brides Sous l’horizon des mers, à de glauques troupeaux !

J’ai vu fermenter les marais énormes, nasses Où pourrit dans les joncs tout un Léviathan ! Des écroulements d’eaux au milieu des bonaces, Et les lointains vers les gouffres cataractant !

Glaciers, soleils d’argent, flots nacreux, cieux de braises ! Échouages hideux au fond des golfes bruns Où les serpents géants dévorés des punaises Choient, des arbres tordus, avec de noirs parfums !

J’aurais voulu montrer aux enfants ces dorades Du flot bleu, ces poissons d’or, ces poissons chantants. – Des écumes de fleurs ont bercé mes dérades Et d’ineffables vents m’ont ailé par instants.

Parfois, martyr lassé des pôles et des zones, La mer dont le sanglot faisait mon roulis doux Montait vers moi ses fleurs d’ombre aux ventouses jaunes Et je restais, ainsi qu’une femme à genoux…

Presque île, ballottant sur mes bords les querelles Et les fientes d’oiseaux clabaudeurs aux yeux blonds. Et je voguais, lorsqu’à travers mes liens frêles Des noyés descendaient dormir, à reculons !

Or moi, bateau perdu sous les cheveux des anses, Jeté par l’ouragan dans l’éther sans oiseau, Moi dont les Monitors et les voiliers des Hanses N’auraient pas repêché la carcasse ivre d’eau ;

Libre, fumant, monté de brumes violettes, Moi qui trouais le ciel rougeoyant comme un mur Qui porte, confiture exquise aux bons poètes, Des lichens de soleil et des morves d’azur ;

Qui courais, taché de lunules électriques, Planche folle, escorté des hippocampes noirs, Quand les juillets faisaient crouler à coups de triques Les cieux ultramarins aux ardents entonnoirs ;

Moi qui tremblais, sentant geindre à cinquante lieues Le rut des Béhémots et les Maelstroms épais, Fileur éternel des immobilités bleues, Je regrette l’Europe aux anciens parapets !

J’ai vu des archipels sidéraux ! et des îles Dont les cieux délirants sont ouverts au vogueur : – Est-ce en ces nuits sans fonds que tu dors et t’exiles, Million d’oiseaux d’or, ô future Vigueur ?

Mais, vrai, j’ai trop pleuré ! Les Aubes sont navrantes. Toute lune est atroce et tout soleil amer : L’âcre amour m’a gonflé de torpeurs enivrantes. Ô que ma quille éclate ! Ô que j’aille à la mer !

Si je désire une eau d’Europe, c’est la flache Noire et froide où vers le crépuscule embaumé Un enfant accroupi plein de tristesse, lâche Un bateau frêle comme un papillon de mai.

Je ne puis plus, baigné de vos langueurs, �� lames, Enlever leur sillage aux porteurs de cotons, Ni traverser l’orgueil des drapeaux et des flammes, Ni nager sous les yeux horribles des pontons.

-Le bateau ivre, Arthur Rimbaud

[redmantic]

Do you think a bird in a cage looks to the sky?

And dreams of freedom?

always out of reach,

And yet, so close

—

6:35AM

Fragile crocheted warmth drapes from my nest.

Loose bandages cling to my arm.

A usual birdsong is replaced by cold silence.

My dark reflections greet me

In a mirror that shows 8 jagged versions of myself.

I brush my hair into place with a broken comb,

And open the door into a room of artificial light.

Today.

I will watch the sun rise.

I will dress my wounds.

I will brush my teeth.

And I will go for a walk.

—

That bird looks into the sky,

A witness to the passage of time

It says

“I want to fly too.”

[whisperofsilence]

**Caged Like a Bird**

By Whisperofsilence

Please don't use without permission!

"In a cage I sit, wings tight and bound,

The air is thin, no joyful sound.

I see the sun, its golden rays,

I see the birds in skies they praise.

They spread their wings, they soar so high,

While here I sit, I wonder why.

I dream of flight, of skies so blue,

But can I fly? I never knew.

The bars are strong, they hold me fast,

But hope inside begins to last.

A breeze so gentle starts to blow,

It shakes my cage, it rocks me slow.

With fear and hope, I take a chance,

I spread my wings, I start to dance.

The cage falls down, I feel the wind,

A taste of freedom, I can't rescind.

I fly, I soar, I touch the sky,

I laugh, I cry, I question why.

For now I'm free, no chains, no bars,

I find myself among the stars.

No longer lone, my heart can sing,

In love's embrace, I find my wing.

To be myself, to freely roam,

I've found my sky, I've found my home."

[hehasalwaysbeengood]

-The Freedom of Heaven-

Why am I jealous

Of the freedom of the bird

When I'm Heaven bound?

-CJPT

Written spring semester of Freshman year 2023

[manwizstud]

Living is loving

Loving Is Your True Nature Being Doing

One Who Can Love Can Be One Who Can Be Can Do One Who Can Do Exists - Dr Devang H Dattani

Good Morning

Quote / Poem / Poetry / Quotes Of 

Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri

Doctor Devang H Dattani

Infinite SriSriSri DDD

Posted By TheBlissCity DDD Team

See The Media Photo Video For

Quoteoftheday

God Morning

#Birds , #bliss , #TheBlissCity , #philosophy , #mindfulness , #DrDevangHDattani , #nature , #awareness , #InfiniteSriSriSriDDD , #Quotes , #Life , #art , #zen , #awakening , #quote , #spiritual , #photography , #Video , #meditation , #psychology , #poem , #poetry , #motivation , #inspiration , #quoteoftheday , #love , #words , #thoughts , #joy , #pun , #enlightenment , #bird photography , #Being , #consciousness , #Exist , #Doing , #wild life , #fun , #video meme

[dewdropsonpluto]

Swallow and Spruce

Wind blown love dances away from my mouth and my lips whisper the despair my heart feels as the distance between you and I steps down and it's

C R A C K I N G M E

But I'm rooted down and deep and you wear wings and sing your song as you soar far far away and you can't hear the echo of snapping bark in the woods

S H A T T E R I N G M E

Fly back to me my love fly back to me when you're done when the world is known and you're weary and weak fly back to my shelter my branches my heart

R E T U R N T O M E

[gmaciasmd]

Caged Free

I thought I would finally fly out this cage Forget the world’s rage Perch on your friendly shoulder But your absence was a boulder Destroying that stage My solitude may have blinded me to the exit before But I see it now and choose to close the door . I’ll remain in my cage safe and sound I choose me and you can just stand around. Happy Friday my lovelies. I send you hugs from Brooklyn.…

[astra-ravana]

Augury: Bird Divination

Augury, also called ornithomancy, is the practice of reading birds and their behavior to divinate the past, present, and future. It is one of the oldest forms of divination, having been practiced by the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, as well as the Celts and Native Americans alike. The reader in this case is referred to as the "augur", and reading the birds is often called "taking the auspices".

Birds are universally seen as messengers and sometimes, as psychopomps, connecting us to the other side and the divine. Augury incorporates the type of bird, the number of birds, as well as their flight patterns and behavior. One can gain powerful insight by incorporating this divination into their practice. Here's the interpretations for general types of bird, some basic movements, and more.

Bird type symbolism:

• Blue jay - Truth, communication, playful, high energy, loud

• Cardinal - Hope, joy, ancestors, loved ones, passion, warmth

• Crow - Magick, witches, transformation, power, omens, intelligence, mystery

• Dove - Peace, tranquility, love, connection, safety

• Duck - Friendship, good fortune, protection from negative energy

• Eagle - Power, leadership, freedom, manifestation, opportunity, adventure

• Falcon - Navigation, taking chances, travel, cooperation, courage, vigilance

• Goose - Love, partnership, home, protection, family

• Hawk - Spirit guides, bravery, awareness, intuition, instinct, higher perspective

• Heron - Strength, purity, longevity, knowledge, good judgment, transcendence, patience

• Hummingbird - The Fae, creativity, bliss, love, beauty, speed, rest is needed

• Kestrel - Consideration, stability, vitality, opportunities

• Owl - The gods, wisdom intuition, spiritual exploration, the unknown, observation, intelligence

• Raven - Mystery, magick, the Fae, knowledge, mischief, death

• Robin - Luck, prosperity, fertility, new beginnings, good things, rewards

• Sparrow - New love, relationships, team work, productivity

• Starling - Communication, adaptability, community, fun, freedom

• Stork - Longevity, fertility, new life, prosperity, wisdom, luck

• Swan - Grace, beauty, music, poetry, creativity, loyalty, partnership

• Vulture - Renewal, perception, creativity, death, patience

• Woodpecker - Hard work, advantage attention, progress, determination

Movement

Directions:

• Towards – Reception

• Away – Depletion

Crossing your path:

• An bird crossing your paths means boundaries.

• Crossing from left to right – Minor achievement

• Crossing from right to left – Minor obstacle

Diagonal:

• A movement diagonally means transformation.

• Lower right to upper left diagonal – Weak obstacle

• Lower left to upper right diagonal – Weak achievement

• Upper right to lower left diagonal – Major obstacle

• Upper left to lower right diagonal – Major achievement

Stationary:

• Stationary means foundation.

• Stationary front – Stability

• Stationary back – Stagnation

• Stationary left – Separation

• Stationary right – Unification

Rotation:

• Clockwise – Major completion

• Counterclockwise – Minor completion

Sides:

• Left - Bad

• Right - Good

Number of Birds:

• 1 - The self, beginnings, manifestation, physical action

• 2 - Security, partnership, balance, duality

• 3 - Adventure, communication, trinity, raising consciousness, strength

• 4 - Wisdom, stability, home, protection

• 5 - Change, creativity, romance, humor and drama

• 6 - Peace, self-love, equilibrium, health

• 7 - Psychic ability, intuition, spiritual awakening, soul mates

• 8 - Transformation, finances, infinite possibility, struggle/delay

• 9 - Lessons, education, courage, pioneering energy

• 10 - Completion, higher powers, alignment, legacy

• 11 - Good luck, wishes granted, new friends, joy

• 12 - Introspection, other realms, the dead, the shadow

Finding feathers:

• Gray – A time of peace is arriving

• White – Focus on your spirituality

• Black – You are protected

• Brown – Strength and courage

• Red – Find and use your spiritual gifts

• Orange – You will be successful

• Yellow – You are on the right path

• Green – Healing is coming

• Blue – Use your voice

• Purple – Expand your psychic abilities

• Pink – Love, romance, or pregnancy

• Striped – Change will happen soon

• Spotted – Release the past

[kelandrin]

BG3 Pride Prompts

Community

Found Family ● Plants ● Fairy

Mentors ● Contemplation ● Tomb

Gathering Place ● Siblings ● Learning

Eating/Cooking Together ● Weapon ● Silver

First Family ● Stuffed Animal ● Wisteria

Party ● Desert ● Knight

Home ● Vampire ● Field

Support ● Glass ● Lullaby

Love

9. First Meeting ● Song ● Dragon 10. Touch ● Dreams ● Transition 11. Confession ● Royalty ● Magic 12. Journey Together ● Matching ● Shapeshifting 13. The Next Step ● Flowers ● Library 14. Happily Ever After ● Dance ● Mermaid 15. Growing Together ● Stars ● Fighting

Celebration

16. Self Discovery ● Unicorn ● Underestimate 17. Victory ● Crossdressing/drag ● Birds 18. Justice ● Masks ● Harbor 19. Coming Out ● Sky ● Blooming 20. Festival ● Witches ● Child 21. Someone Like Me ● Sunshine ● Poetry 22. Escape ● Destiny ● Translate

Freedom

23. Expression ● Moon ● Ghosts 24. Colors ● Ocean ● Gold 25. Clothes ● Demons ● City 26. Art ● Clouds ● History 27. Storytelling ● War ● Playful 28. Seeing the World ● Angels ● Pet 29. Leaving Behind Something ● Storm ● Forest 30. Who You Are ● Gods ● Sacrifice

Might be a day late but it is here! You don't have to use BG3 characters for this. Just made it in mind for this fandom. The first prompt is the pride prompt, the rest are bonuses! Try to make it queer themed or just have queer characters involved. Dividers.

[anemoi-i]

Neuvillette refers to Venti as "The God of Breeze and Hope" (his voicelines about the Archons.) Both are odd: "breeze" instead of "wind" (but the term is under the umbrella of things referring to the wind) and "hope." The latter is more important. As of now, we haven't seen Venti be referred to as such.

We've seen him be referred to as the God of Poetry and Songs, the Wind God, etc. We know he blesses wind gliders so they actually work, amongst so many other titles, but never "hope." That isn't to say the term doesn't fit him, it's just surprising. Neuvillette is the Hydro Dragon Sovereign, meaning he could know more than we do or at the very least know things about the Archons that haven't been revealed by even themselves (and Venti DOES have a habit of doing that).

Anyway, I've been thinking about it since I read the line and a lot of Mondstadt's lore has to do with hope: The Nameless bard hoped for freedom, to see the clear skies and birds that cageless soar; at the time of the Aristocracy that came after, the people of Mondstadt hoped for an end to the tyrannical reign, and the people of Mondstadt hope for their freedom not to come under threat again. The theme of hope is around not through Venti's actions themselves but rather a collaboration between Venti & the people of Mondstadt, and you'll also remember the Freedom Sworn description also questions whether or not Venti gained the love for Freedom from the people or vice versa (and I also said it could be both in that instance). So in this instance, it is "both" once again.

[soullust]

my miscellaneous dps headcanons (including some background characters)

neil

has HORRIBLE eyesight. like wayy worse that meeks but he hates wearing his glasses

loves scavenger hunts

charlie helped him realize he's gay (they made out once to 'check' but never had any actual feelings for eachother)

is diabetic but doesn't know it

todd

is so incredibly competitive it's ridiculous. he'll die before he loses a bet

selectively mute

gets his poetry / writing published at least twice. the first time was even before he turned 18

scrunches his nose when smiling

not a morning person. he's dead until noon

knox

is a huge gossip and his grandma's favorite bc of it

can't lie to save his life

loves horseback riding

can't cook. at all. like he burns water

charlie

loves spicy foods and smells

his parents mostly ignored him and his younger sister during their childhood and basically raised his sister himself

but it also gave him a lot of freedom, especially during holidays and school breaks, since his parents always either pawned him off to family or just didn't care where he was 90% of the time.

like, really, they only care about appearances so they get on his back about being disrespectful every once in a while and ignore him the rest that's one of the reasons he acts out all the time he desperately craves attention he never got

tina INSISTS on doing his make-up everytime they hang out. he likes make-up and she's pretty good, so he just lets her

meeks

like todd, he's very competitive, but, unlike todd, he's not a sore loser

has a huge sweet tooth smells like it

was obsessed with nordic mythology in middleschool

matthew ("spaz") was his childhood bestfriend, but they grew apart over the years

is allergic to bees. somehow never remembers to take his epipen anywhere. it's a miracle he's survived this long

pitts

he's a car guy. wants to be a car mechanic

had a crush on neil in like 6th grade

scared of birds

has a stutter and used to have a lisp

gamer boi

not exactly a hc but yall can we acknowledge how sarcastic and bitchy he is??? he's hilarious

knows how to sew

gives the best hugs

cameron

once got arrested and had to call charlie to bail him out. charlie was so proud he bought him ice cream on their way back

has lexical-gustatory synesthesia

his bio dad is dead and he hates his step-father with a passion

is besties with gloria and she finds him hillarious

other

mr keating used to work as a line cook in his teens. also he was a lot like charlie during his highschool years (chaotic & funny)

chris used to do ballet as a kid, but has moved on to cheerleading and gymnastics. her parents are divorced. she lives with her mother and younger half-brother

ginny really should be wearing glasses but she hates them and her parents refuse to buy her more flattering frames. she can't swim. people always share their secrets with her bc she seems like she can keep them, but she’s actually a huge gossip

stick has a twin sister. he is nonverbal and communicates thru asl

gloria is training to be a hairdresser

tina can’t walk in heels taller than half an inch

hopkins has a huge crush on cameron

matthew is an origami master

mr mcallister knits in his spare time. he married a chinese woman who, when he met her, didn’t know any english

i take headcanon and one-shot requests btw

[vulture-jack]

Idk if anyones made a post like this but i think about this a lot like. finding out that birds are dinosaurs. and what that means?

It means that these animals weve been fascinated with for hundreds of years? theyre still here, and we've LOVED them the whole time. We've loved them so much. Their existence is so significant to our species. We have been keeping dinosaurs as pets and livestock, decorating ourselves and everything around us with dinosaurs, writing poetry and painting them, watching them, feeding them, going out into nature just to get a look at them. Bird watching IS dinosaur watching. They are symbols of freedom and joy and peace and power. They have been and are sacred. For some they are beloved companions. So much of our culture and existence is influenced by them.

We spent so much time wondering about these extinct creatures and wishing we could see them, loving them from across time. Needing to know more. And then to find out that part of their legacy is alive and has been around me my entire life? That I wake up to dinosaur song? Makes me kinda emotional ngl.

We have ALWAYS loved dinosaurs.

[larryfanfiction]

Historical Girl Direction

🎀 The Sweet Yoke by little_obelia @littleobelia (1k, T)

Harry prays to Mother Mary, Undoer of Knots, to send a healer to attend to the Order's ailing hens. Mother Superior consults the blessed yellow pages and finds Tomlinson, L., a local veterinarian.

🎀 Oh Valley Girl by LadyLondonderry @londonfoginacup (3k, G)

Out past the rolling hills and the churning sea sits a little fishing village, nestled in a valley where its residents are protected from the elements, as well as from the outside world as a whole. Harry lives in this little fishing village, and she loves nothing more than feeling the earth beneath her and seeing the sky above her and sometimes dreaming of adventure. Then one day a ship arrives.

🎀 Too Great a Temptation by QuickedWeen @becomeawendybird (5k, G)

Harry and Louis attend a fancy dress ball.

🎀 In a Little Bit of Trouble by QuickedWeen @becomeawendybird (5k, T)

Agent Louis Tomlinson is in hot water and finds help in the most unlikely of places: the sweet waitress at her local automat.

🎀 Hoist the Colours High by Kerasines @justlarried (5k, M)

They’re facing each other, closer now, so close, cut off from the world completely, or at least it feels that way. The blanket cages them in, blocks out the moonlight, dulls the sound of the wind, the sea, and the birds coming from outside. The air is hot and musky, but she thinks she could stay under this blanket forever. It’s their own little universe, in here, shared breath and shared heat and shared time. Or: A Girl Direction Pirates of the Caribbean AU featuring Harry as Will Turner, Louis as Elizabeth Swann, swords, and my obsession with girls in men's period clothing.

🎀 Only You (Blue Always Stays True) by BeautifulWisdom @justanotherghostblr (11k, M)

Regency AU. Lady Harriet falls for her sister's best friend the elusive Alpha Lady Louise who couldn't possibly return her tender feelings. Or could she?

🎀 Withdrawal Was the Weeping by QuickedWeen @becomeawendybird (11k, E)

Confined by life and society, Harry spends her Sunday afternoons walking aimlessly about the countryside as it's her only source of freedom. One Sunday she is aided by the most beautiful woman she has ever met, but not everything is as it seems. Was it a trick of the light? Was it Harry's own active imagination? There is nothing to do but try to find her again.

🎀 Harriet and Louise by Blaaake @newleafover (29k, E)

There’s nothing Harriet can do to alter the world, but she can make Louise laugh. A regency-era girl direction AU

🎀 The Changer and the Changed by homosociallyyours @homosociallyyours (59k, M)

It’s the spring of 1977 and Harry Styles has just moved to New York City after graduating college. She knows she’s a lesbian. She just needs to figure out how to meet other lesbians. Louis Tomlinson works at a popular women’s bookstore in the Lower East Side, Womon’s Direction, where she spends her days reading feminist literature, writing poetry, exchanging friendly barbs with her boss Niall, and dreaming of finding someone to love. When Harry and Louis meet, their connection is instantaneous. Slowly but surely, Louis welcomes Harry into her community of women. Stonewall veteran and old school butch Niall; Liam, a land dyke who’s moved to the city for love; and Zayn, a lesbian musician who’s been ostracized by a vocal part of women’s community for being trans, welcome Harry with open arms, ready to help her find her place in New York City’s bustling lesbian scene. It’s a time of growth for everyone involved.

🎀 into the great wide open by mixedfandomfics @ficshl (69k, T)

It only took a week or so for Harry to truly get into the routine of life on the road. They woke before dawn each morning, ate a small meal, packed up the tent and rounded up the livestock, all before setting out. On a good day, they could make it twenty miles. There hadn’t been many bad ones, but Louis confessed that on a previous trip there had been a solid week where they hadn’t made it more than five miles a day. Soon, Louis promised, animals would start going lame, and wheels would start breaking, and people would start going hungry. The beginning was the easiest, and the end was doable only because the hope of finishing the trek fueled everyone. It was the middle bit, with the tedious marching hundreds of miles from any settlement, that people succumbed to the journey.

🎀 Among Lavender Fields by homosociallyyours @homosociallyyours (70k, E)

At twenty-one, Louis Tomlinson is more than ready to shed the girl next door image that's been with her since her entry into film in her childhood, but with a mother and father steeped in Hollywood tradition it's felt impossible. Meanwhile, Harry Styles is a young, struggling musician new to London, friendless yet eager for the next phase of her life to begin. When French director Marie Coutard casts the two of them in her film, it's a chance for both to break away from the people they've been. Together, they struggle through an acting process that's new and unfamiliar for both of them, learning more than they could've imagined about themselves along the way. As they spend long days picking lavender and long nights sharing the things they've never been able to tell anyone else, their love blooms. Will the flower fade, or will the love they make among lavender fields be one they carry with them to the end?

[srisrisriddd]

Shakti is essence of aware pure consciousness - Dr Devang H Dattani

Good Morning

Quote / Poem / Poetry / Quotes Of 

Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri

Doctor Devang H Dattani

Infinite SriSriSri DDD

Posted By TheBlissCity DDD Team

See The Media Photo Video For

Quoteoftheday

God Morning

#Shakti , #now , #bliss , #TheBlissCity , #philosophy , #mindfulness , #DrDevangHDattani , #nature , #awareness , #InfiniteSriSriSriDDD , #quotes , #life , #art , #zen , #awakening , #quote , #spiritual , #photography , #Video , #meditation , #psychology , #poem , #poetry , #motivation , #inspiration , #quoteoftheday , #love , #words , #thoughts , #joy , #pun , #enlightenment , #health , #mental health , #consciousness , #good , #god , #landscape , #life , #video , #aware , #conscious , #thoughts , #nirvana , #tantra , #yoga , #truth , #birds , #bird photography , #photooftheday , #panorama , #essence , #lake , #flying , #freedom , #pure

[scotianostra]

10th December 1824 saw the birth in Huntly of George MacDonald, the church minister, writer and poet.

His father, a farmer, was one of the MacDonalds of Glen Coe and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the massacre of 1692. He grew up in household that embraced education, one of his uncles was a notable Celtic scholar, editor of the Gaelic Highland Dictionary and collector of fairy tales and Celtic poetry. Both his parents were readers, his father had likings for Newton, Burns, Cowper, Chalmers, Coleridge, and Darwin, to quote a few, while his mother had received a classical education which included multiple languages.

Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W.H. Audent, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S. Lewis who wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his “master”: “Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later,” said Lewis, “I knew that I had crossed a great frontier.” G.K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had “made a difference to my whole existence.”

Elizabeth Yates wrote of Sir Gibbie, “It moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling.”

Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.

Since we are on the run up to Christmas it is only right to post this poem by MacDonald.

A Song For Christmas.

I.

Hark, in the steeple the dull bell swinging Over the furrows ill ploughed by Death! Hark the bird-babble, the loud lark singing! Hark, from the sky, what the prophet saith!

Hark, in the pines, the free Wind, complaining— Moaning, and murmuring, "Life is bare!" Hark, in the organ, the caught Wind, outstraining, Jubilant rise in a soaring prayer!

Toll for the burying, sexton tolling! Sing for the second birth, angel Lark! Moan, ye poor Pines, with the Past condoling! Burst out, brave Organ, and kill the Dark!

II.

Sit on the ground, and immure thy sorrow; I will give freedom to mine in song! Haunt thou the tomb, and deny the morrow; I will go watch in the dawning long!

For I shall see them, and know their faces— Tenderer, sweeter, and shining more; Clasp the old self in the new embraces; Gaze through their eyes' wide open door.

Loved ones, I come to you: see my sadness; I am ashamed—but you pardon wrong! Smile the old smile, and my soul's new gladness Straight will arise in sorrow and song!

With so many admirers it is only natural that George MacDonald has his own web page, where you can read loads more of him and his work.